Stuart Hall's sentence doubled

Appeal judges have ruled that the 15-month jail sentence given to former BBC presenter Stuart Hall for indecent assault was "unduly lenient" and doubled to 30 months. He admitted 14 counts relating to girls aged between nine and 17.

Today, the Court of Appeal ruled the 15-month sentence handed to Stuart Hall was "unduly lenient" and directed that his sentence be doubled. Before Hall admitted to 14 counts of historical sexual abuse, he branded the claims "vicious and callous":

Labour has said it "welcomes" the decision by the Court of Appeal judges to double ex-BBC presenter Stuart Hall's sentence for indecently assaulting girls as young as nine:

We called for this review because the courts must take a consistently tough approach to sentencing child abusers.

It is very important for victims to know they will be taken seriously and that it is worth while coming forward because we need them to help ensure that these abusive manipulative men are brought to justice and are given the punishment they deserve.

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The case was referred to the court by Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who argued that Stuart Hall's sentence was "unduly lenient" as it failed to adequately reflect the gravity of his offending and the "public concern" about such crimes.

After the announcement, Mr Grieve said:

I asked the court to consider the multiple offending by Stuart Hall over a prolonged period of time which involved numerous victims.

I also asked that the court take into account the breaches of trust in this case - Hall carried out some of these offences in places where the victims were entitled to feel safe, he used his celebrity status to invite them to attend the BBC, and he also displayed an element of planning and premeditation.

I am pleased that the court found that 15 months was unduly lenient and have today increased that sentence to 30 months and I hope that this case has highlighted the fact that historical sexual offences are always taken very seriously and show that the law still applies, whoever the offender may be.